Physical Characteristics. Levy County is on the Gulf of Mexico, south of the Gainesville area and west of Ocala. It is bordered by Dixie, Gilchrist, Alachua, Marion, and Citrus counties. The county has 1099.56 square miles of land and 71.50 square miles of water for a total of 1171.06 square miles. The average January temperature is 57.9 degrees Fahrenheit, and the average August temperature is 82.1 degrees Fahrenheit. The average annual rainfall is 45.30 inches.
History. Levy County was established in 1845 from a portion of Alachua County and named for David Levy Yulee, first U.S. Senator from Florida and developer of a 5,000-acre plantation on the Homosassa River. Cedar Key was founded in 1850 and was the southern terminus of the first railroad across Florida.
